My first newt... (May be a disaster.)

[Ekmanor]

So, I decided to get a fbn I saw for sale at this pet store I go to. I had the tank already set up, I looked a bit closer at the newt when I got home, and I noticed his back left foot was missing... What happened to it? And what can I do to help the little guy out?



Also, I'm living in Searcy, AR atm, and I can't for the life of me find a single newt or salamander anywhere! Neither in stores or in the wild. Help!

 

[Chinadog]

A picture would help if possible, but skin sores are very common on wild caught petstore newts. Treatment is rarely successful because the underlying cause is a failure of the newts immune system brought on by the stress of capture, importation and most likely the wrong care at the pet store.
The only real chance you can give your newt of recovery is by providing a stress free, optimal environment and hope it's immune system will begin functioning again.
Most of the info you need is in the sticky about Chinese firebellies at the top of the help section, you can also use the search function to find many similar threads with very similar advice. If you do decide to try and treat it, I've included a link explaining how I treated skin sores on one of my Fire bellies. It's always hit and miss treating these kinds of problems, even with captive bred newts like the one in the link and treating wild caught animals with all their stress issues is even harder, but it might be worth a try.


http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...lp/94263-c-pyrrhogaster-illness-sickness.html

 

[Ekmanor]

A picture would help if possible, but skin sores are very common on wild caught petstore newts. Treatment is rarely successful because the underlying cause is a failure of the newts immune system brought on by the stress of capture, importation and most likely the wrong care at the pet store.
The only real chance you can give your newt of recovery is by providing a stress free, optimal environment and hope it's immune system will begin functioning again.
Most of the info you need is in the sticky about Chinese firebellies at the top of the help section, you can also use the search function to find many similar threads with very similar advice. If you do decide to try and treat it, I've included a link explaining how I treated skin sores on one of my Fire bellies. It's always hit and miss treating these kinds of problems, even with captive bred newts like the one in the link and treating wild caught animals with all their stress issues is even harder, but it might be worth a try.


http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...lp/94263-c-pyrrhogaster-illness-sickness.html

Sorry the picture is so bad, lost my camera while on vacation a while back, had to use my iPhone. In the picture, you can see a little white stub where his foot should be.

I've had him for three days and he seems to be doing good, I'm feeding him pinhead crickets, is that sufficient? For a food source?

 

[Asevernnnn]

These newts are imported from China, so who really knows what happened to it.
Pinhead crickets aren't a very good staple and uneaten ones will bite your newt. The staple diet should be chopped worm or a high quality pellet if it accepts them, with occasional treats like frozen bloodworms and crickets.
Whats your tank setup like, size, volume of water, temp, etc.
Here is a care sheet on H. orientalis if you haven't seen it already:
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

 

[Ekmanor]

These newts are imported from China, so who really knows what happened to it.
Pinhead crickets aren't a very good staple and uneaten ones will bite your newt. The staple diet should be chopped worm or a high quality pellet if it accepts them, with occasional treats like frozen bloodworms and crickets.
Whats your tank setup like, size, volume of water, temp, etc.
Here is a care sheet on H. orientalis if you haven't seen it already:
Caudata Culture Species Entry - Cynops orientalis - Chinese firebelly

His tank is a ten gallon that is half full of water with a pile of large rocks that covers about 1/3 of the tank. No plants atm, will get some tomorrow for sure. Temp is around 65F. Low lighting on through 12 hours of the day. Btw, he's not wanting to eat crickets now, but I did see him nibble at a few pellets instead. How can I be sure that his appetite will stay at its usual times?

 

[Asevernnnn]

The tank should ideally have a minimum of 10 gallons of water. And this specie under good conditions, cool water, planted, is basically fully aquatic, and required a piece of floating cork bark if anything, and rocks are known for having waste build up underneath and beind them.

 

[Ekmanor]

The tank should ideally have a minimum of 10 gallons of water. And this specie under good conditions, cool water, planted, is basically fully aquatic, and required a piece of floating cork bark if anything, and rocks are known for having waste build up underneath and beind them.

Okay, I can do all of that today except maybe the cork bark. Thanks mate.

 

[Ekmanor]

Turns out I have two fire bellies... I was taking out the trash today and a little face popped out from the bag I brought the other newt home in... The pet store didn't notice I guess... The 'new' one is happy and healthy in his own 15 gallon tank.

Anyways, I got all the supplies I needed except for cork bark, but as a temporary fix I took some clear Tupperware lids and put two in each tank. Fingers crossed that everything turns out okay.

 

[Asevernnnn]

And if they're refusing the water, I would try starting up in a shallow tank with tons of plants and gradually increase the water until they're aquatic.

 

[Libby8]

I'm new here too so I'm not sure if what I'm doing is the best thing, but I'm having a similar experience with a newt that I just bought at a pet store two weeks ago. Mine hasn't regrown her foot yet, but I think I am having some success with what I've done so far. I separated the sick newt into a small hospital tank. The "hospital tank" is basically a 3/4 gallon container with no filter and no light, just plants for her to sit on and hide under. I'm keeping her water cool and doing daily water changes using Furan-2 antibiotic and adding Seachem Stress Guard to the water. I couldn't find any information about whether Stress Guard is recommended for amphibians, but mine seem to be doing well with it so far. It's an antiseptic and is supposed to help aid healing. The infection stopped spreading and she is doing well eating earthworms (nightcrawlers).

 

[Ekmanor]

Update: both newts are happy and healthy!